An electronically tunable current-mode quadrature oscillator using PCAs

This article presents a new realisation of active RC sinusoidal oscillator with electronically tunable condition and frequency of oscillation (FO). As compared to the class of three resistors, two capacitors (3R-2C)-based canonic oscillators, the circuit proposed here uses only two resistors and two capacitors as the passive components and still provides non-interactive tuning laws for the condition of oscillation and the FO. The proposed circuit employs new bipolar programmable current amplifier as the active building block and is capable of simultaneously providing two explicit quadrature current outputs. SPICE simulation results have been included to verify the workability of the circuit as an oscillator and the tuning range of the FO.     

New resistorless and electronically tunable realization of dual-output VM all-pass filter using VDIBA

In this paper, a new active element called voltage differencing inverting buffered amplifier (VDIBA) is presented. Using single VDIBA and a capacitor, a new resistorless voltage-mode (VM) first-order all-pass filter (APF) is proposed, which provides both inverting and non-inverting outputs at the same configuration simultaneously. The pole frequency of the filter can be electronically controlled by means of bias current of the internal transconductance. No component-matching conditions are required and it has low sensitivity. In addition, the parasitic and loading effects are also investigated. By connecting two newly introduced APFs in open loop a novel second-order APF is proposed. As another application, the proposed VM APF is connected in cascade to a lossy integrator in a closed loop to design a four-phase quadrature oscillator. The theoretical results are verified by SPICE simulations using TSMC 0.18 μm level-7 CMOS process parameters with ±0.9 V supply voltages. Moreover, the behavior of the proposed VM APF was also experimentally measured using commercially available integrated circuit OPA860 by Texas Instruments.     

Some insights from recent applications of HRA methods in PSA effort and plant operation feedback in Czech Republic

The methods of human reliability analysis (HRA) form an integral part of probabilistic safety assessment. These methods are currently still under development and there is significant lack of data needed for applications. As a consequence, no unique formal approach for solution of many aspects related to plant staff human performance does exist.In this contribution, some examples of fruitful work are given, which reflect the needs and possibilities specific for HRA field. In the first two examples, methodology, course and results of analysis of concrete matters related to pre-accident errors and shutdown control room crew performance are described. The last example is oriented to one potential human performance related data source-observation of control room crew full-scope simulator exercise. Some conclusions of general validity are presented in the final part of the contribution.     

APPLICATION OF CHROMATIC MONITORING AS A PLASMA DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUE

This paper describes the application of chromatic monitoring of both laboratory and industrial plasmas. The light emitted from the nitrogen plasma generated in the different plasma sources was measured with an imaging spectrograph. The emission spectra were reduced to data points representing the chromatic coordinates of these spectra. The data compression makes this method attractive for monitoring plasma parameter changes. The aim of this work was to test the possibility of application of chromatic monitoring for plasma processing.     

Study of structure and properties of ZnO–Bi<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>–P<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>5</Subscript> glasses

Glasses of the ternary system ZnO–Bi₂O₃–P₂O₅ were prepared and studied in two compositional series 50ZnO–xBi₂O₃–(50 − x)P₂O₅ and (50 − y)ZnO–yBi₂O₃–50P₂O₅. Two distinct glass-forming regions were found in the 50ZnO–xBi₂O₃–(50 − x)P₂O₅ glass series with x = 0–10 and 20–35 mol.% Bi₂O₃. All prepared Bi₂O₃-containing glasses reveal a high chemical durability. Small additions of Bi₂O₃ (∼5 mol.%) improve thermal stability of glasses. All glasses crystallize on heating within the temperature range of 505–583 °C. Structural studies by Raman and ³¹P MAS NMR spectroscopies showed the rapid depolymerisation of phosphate chains within the first region with x = 0–15 and the presence of isolated Q⁰ phosphate units within the second region with x = 20–35. Raman studies showed that bismuth is incorporated in the glass structure in BiO₆ units and their vibrational bands were observed within the spectral region of 350–700 cm⁻¹. The evolution of properties and the spectroscopic data are both in accordance with a network former effect of Bi₂O₃.     

Modeling batch melting: Roles of heat transfer and reaction kinetics

Development of mathematical models of heat and mass transfer in glass-melting furnaces began in the 1970s and progressed rapidly with advances in sophisticated experimental/numerical techniques and increasing computational power. Today, practically all newly built or rebuilt furnaces are optimized with these models to meet stringent quality requirements, reduce the unit costs of manufacturing, or control emissions. One remaining hurdle is to model the batch-to-glass conversion accurately enough to reliably assess the glass production rate. This article summarizes two key aspects of the batch-conversion modeling—the heat transfer and the kinetics of conversion—and reviews the current state-of-the-art approaches to simulating them. We critically examine the advantages of the commonly used heat transfer approach, but also explain that its predictive capabilities are significantly restricted by the dependence of batch thermal properties on the time-temperature history. We argue that kinetic approaches to the batch-conversion modeling would offer a significant improvement when coupled with the heat transfer approach. Finally, we summarize key areas requiring further research on the way toward a realistic model of the batch blanket.     

Effect of Si Addition on Martensitic Transformation and Microstructure of NiTiSi Shape Memory Alloys

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - The effect of Si addition on microstructure and martensitic transformation of the Ni-Ti-Si SMA was investigated in this work. The...     

Vibrations of a fluid filled cylindrical shell excited by an oscillating piston in the fluid: Comparison between measurements and calculations

A water filled thin walled cylindrical shell was excited to vibrate by a piston displacing the water. The near-wall water pressures and the accelerations of the wall were measured and compared with corresponding computations. It was stated that the dynamic system behavior was dominated by the structure dynamics. A major finding was that a relatively small imperfection caused by a weld seam of the cylindrical shell (out-of-roundness 0.36% of the diameter) exerted a decisive influence on the dynamic behavior of the shell. Pressures and accelerations were changed by a multiple of the value calculated for the perfect cylindrical shell.     

PARTITION BETWEEN α-METHYL AND α-METHYLENE PROTONS IN 1H NMR SPECTRA OF COAL TARS

Cut-off points between protons in a-methyl and or-methylene groups were proposed for the evaluation of 'H NMR spectra of coal tars. The position of the cut-off points depended on the proton aromaticity and related structural features of the samples. Equations for the calculation of the cut-off points as a function of proton and carbon aromaticity, and atomic H/C ratio were proposed for the range of proton aromaticity between 0.2 and 0.6.